Ren Na

Title : Establishment of soybean infecting virus based genome editing system

Abstract:

To develop a ALSV-based gRNA delivery system, the Cas9-based Csy4-processed ALSV Carry (CCAC) system was developed. In this system, we engineered the soybean-infecting ALSV to carry and deliver gRNA(s). The endoribonuclease Csy4 effectively releases gRNAs that function efficiently in Cas9-mediated genome editing. Genome editing of endogenous phytoene desaturase (PDS) loci and exogenous 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) sequence in Nicotiana. benthamiana (N. benthamiana) through CCAC was confirmed using Sanger sequencing. Furthermore, CCAC-induced mutagenesis in two soybean endogenous GW2 paralogs was detected. With the aid of the CCAC system, the target-specific gRNA(s) can be easily manipulated and efficiently delivered into soybean plant cells by viral infection. This soybean genome editing system can be used for gene function study and trait improvement.

Biography:

Dr. Na studied biological science and technology at Inner Mongolia University of Science & Technology and graduated as BS in 2017. She then worked on plant pathology with the research group of Dr. Jun Zhao at Inner Mongolia Agricultural University and received PhD degree in 2013. During her PhD study, she also  studied at Dr. Gijzen’s group at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for two years as an exchange student. After two year postdoctoral fellowship supervised by Dr. Mengchen Zhang and Dr. Yuanchao Wang at Institute of Cereal and Oil Crops (ICOC), Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, she worked as staff at ICOC. She has published more than 10 research articles.